Benjamin Collings

The death of 17-year-old Benjamin Collings in New York City on December 15, 1932, is a cold case intertwined with the horrific legacy of one of America's most infamous serial killers. The specific details of what happened to the young male on that winter day are scarce, but his name is listed in historical records as a possible victim of Albert Fish, a murderer, child molester, and cannibal known as the "Gray Man" and the "Werewolf of Wysteria."

Fish was a house painter who preyed on vulnerable children, and while he confessed to several murders, authorities believe his true victim count was much higher. After his arrest in 1934 for the murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd, investigators questioned him about a string of other unsolved killings. Police in Long Island specifically tried to connect Fish to the deaths of Benjamin Collings, 16-year-old Mary Ellen O'Connor, and 4-year-old Billy Gaffney. Fish, however, denied any part in these particular cases. His denials were met with skepticism, as he was known to be untruthful about the full scope of his monstrous activities.

The obscurity of Benjamin's case is compounded by frequent confusion with another, more sensational murder that occurred a year prior. In September 1931, a 38-year-old inventor named Benjamin P. Collings was killed aboard his yacht, the "Penguin," on Long Island Sound. His wife, Lillian, told police that two men who she described as "pirates" boarded the boat, bludgeoned her husband, tied his hands, and threw him into the water. His body later washed ashore on the North Shore.

Lillian Collings claimed the men then kidnapped her before setting her free in a motorboat. The Suffolk County District Attorney found her story "bizarre and illogical," and she was briefly considered a suspect. The case generated significant media attention, with newspapers running features on Mrs. Collings's life and photos of the couple's five-year-old daughter, who was left sleeping on the yacht as it was set adrift. Despite the investigation and the questioning of several suspects, the murder of the elder Benjamin Collings was never solved. This separate, high-profile crime has often been conflated with the death of the 17-year-old Benjamin, further clouding the few known facts of his case.

No one was ever charged in the death of young Benjamin Collings. The investigation never yielded any concrete evidence or identified suspects beyond the suspicion surrounding Albert Fish. The narrative of the teenager's final moments remains lost to history.

Albert Fish was ultimately convicted for the murder of Grace Budd, a crime he described in chilling detail in a letter sent to her mother. His trial exposed the depths of his depravity and a lifetime of horrific acts against children. On January 16, 1936, Albert Fish was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison. While his death brought a final end to his reign of terror, it left the families of his many other potential victims, including that of Benjamin Collings, without answers or justice. The case officially remains unsolved.